ASSOCIATE WEST COAST EDITOR BLAKE Z. RONG: Evidently senior online editor Davey G. Johnson has fallen ill with a virus, one with symptoms including espousing the virtues of modest Toyota products. “Oh man, the Avalon!” he shouted with gleeful joy while we were gathered in Detroit for Fantasy Camp. “It's, like, one of the greatest cars ever.”

“Seriously,” he added, to no one in particular.

Thing is, Davey is right -- the Toyota Avalon does many things fundamentally well, in such a seamless manner that one won't even notice.

Earlier this year I drove the Avalon to Las Vegas, 265 miles along I-15. It's actually a very light-feeling car: the body feels rather thin, while the steering and throttle response have been engineered to impart some delicacy. Compare this to the Chevrolet Impala, which is slightly mushier: the Avalon is more precise but lacks the heft of its American rival. It's amazing what both cars will do with around 300 horsepower: acceleration in both is brisk, and surprisingly so. One can conceivably burn out an entire quarter-mile in the Avalon. Want to introduce your kids to stargazing? Pin the throttle and tell your kids to look forward as the nose heaves upwards by about a foot. Look, there's Gemini, right on the horizon.

The interior is comfortable, and the seats are supportive for Las Vegas traffic. With the switches, buttons, and things for your finger to caress, Toyota has attempted to stride the divide between zany new-tech and good old-fashioned buttons: while there are few actual buttons per se, the touch-capacitive controls respond quickly enough. The same goes for the relatively low-res touchscreen. One cool feature is the fan speed slider which is a neat trick, and I wish Toyota had done the same with the temperature controls.

There's a great quote from a great philosopher -- OK, “Futurama” -- that says, “when you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.” That seems to be Toyota's M.O. for the most part, something it's been doing for the past 30 years. The Avalon may not inspire such mad lust as it did with Davey, but it certainly fulfills the mission of doing things right.